Yo Gotti Biography

The American rapper known as Yo Gotti was born Mario Mims in 1981 in Memphis. Yo Gotti began rapping when he was still a teenager, performing with DJ Sound under the name Lil Yo. By 2000, he’d started to release a number of independent albums, starting with Da Dope Game 2 Da Rap Game, available via digital download. The albums Self-Explanatory (2001) and Life (2003) followed, with the latter bringing Yo Gotti his first hint of commercial success when it rose to the number fifty-nine spot on the R&B charts.

But it was the 2006 album Back 2 da Basics that proved to be Yo Gotti’s first real breakthrough, rising to the number three spot on the US rap charts and into the top ten on the R&B charts. Yo Gotti followed Back 2 da Basics with two increasingly successful albums: Live from the Kitchen (2012), which rose to the number four spot on both the Rap and R&B charts; and then I Am (2013), which rose to the number two spots on both Rap and R&B and also into the top ten on the US charts, becoming Yo Gotti’s mainstream breakthrough. The album earned Yo Gotti a BET Hip Hop Award nomination for Album of the Year and spawned the top ten hit “Act Right.”

Notable singles from Yo Gotti so far include: “Full Time,” “Gangsta Party,” “I Got Them,” “Let’s Vibe,” “Sold Out,” “5 Star,” “Women Lie, Men Lie,” “We Can Get It On,” “King Shit,” “Cold Blood,” “I Know,” and “Down in the DM.” Yo Gotti has also appeared as a featured artist on singles by other high-profile performers, including: “Numb” (with August Alsina); “Don’t Worry ‘Bout It” (50 Cent); “Yayo” (Snootie Wild); “Turn Up For a Check” ( K Camp); and “Maybe” (Teyana Taylor.)

Yo Gotti most recently founded his own record label, Collective Music Group (aka CMG.) Yo Gotti’s most recently released album is The Art of Hustle, which arrived in 2016 and features the singles “Law” and “Champions” (which includes contributions from Kanye West, Big Sean, Travis Scott, and others.)